One Diploma, Two Rulebooks: Why UDPTE Teachers Feel Short-Changed as the New CPG Nears
When the government introduced the Diploma in Primary Teacher Education (DPTE) in 2020, the aim was to align teachers with the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
A new curriculum demanded a new kind of teacher, and the minimum qualification for a teacher under CBC became a diploma.
The DPTE replaced the Primary Teacher Education (PTE) certificate, popularly known as P1, for those teaching in primary schools.
For nursery school teachers, the Diploma in Early Childhood Teacher Education (DECTE) replaced the ECD certificate and Diploma.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) responded by developing a framework to phase out the PTE certificate.
The first DPTE cohorts joined teacher training colleges (TTCs) in 2021, and the diploma took three years, compared with two for the certificate.
Today there are two routes into the same classroom. A teacher can train under the DPTE, or a serving P1 teacher can complete the Upgrading Diploma in Primary Teacher Education (UDPTE).
The two programmes are built on the same competencies, yet TSC applies different rules when hiring and promoting their graduates.
That gap is raising concern among teachers, and the new Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) may determine whether it closes.
The upgrade teachers were told to take
The introduction of the diploma did not affect only new entrants. The Ministry of Education announced that all teachers registered by TSC must undergo an upgrading programme to align themselves with the new curriculum.
TSC was equally clear about unemployed teachers: they would be hired only after upgrading to DPTE.
Thousands of teachers went back to class to acquire Competency Based Education and Training (CBET).
The exercise was costly, and the burden fell on a group that could ill afford it, since the majority of those who pursue teacher training come from poor backgrounds.
According to various fee structures, a P1 teacher was required to pay up to Ksh 65,000 in public TTCs and up to Ksh 90,000 in private ones.
On top of that came Ksh 15,700 for Knec assessment and practicum. For a teacher without a salary, this is a heavy sum to raise.
Many teachers did it anyway and were awarded UDPTE certificates, on the understanding that the diploma was the new standard and that the sacrifice would count.
A diploma that did not open the door
It did not translate into automatic recruitment. TSC initially awarded ten marks to applicants holding the UDPTE certificate. In its most recent recruitment guidelines, that has been revised downward to five marks.
This raises a pointed question: why were teachers subjected to an expensive retraining for such a minimal benefit?
TSC did not bar PTE certificate holders who had not upgraded from being recruited, nor did it prioritise those who had.
It simply awarded a small number of marks to those who upgraded. For a teacher who spent up to Ksh 90,000 and months in training, a handful of marks in a competitive shortlisting process is thin compensation. To many P1 teachers, the upgrade was compulsory in tone but optional in effect.
Same competencies, different entry grades
The differences do not stop at recruitment. TSC’s employment and promotion rules also apply differently to DPTE and UDPTE teachers.
On employment, a DPTE graduate is placed at job group C1, the entry grade for diploma teachers in both primary and secondary schools.
A P1 teacher who upgraded to UDPTE is instead placed at grade B5, the entry grade for certificate teachers in primary schools.
Under the current CPG, introduced in 2018, that teacher moves to C1 only after serving three years in B5.
The promotion is automatic, but it means the UDPTE teacher reaches the grade on which the DPTE graduate begins three years later.
Consider two teachers who hold diplomas built on the same competencies and who teach the same Grade 4 class.
One began at C1. The other began at B5 and must wait three years to reach the same grade. The learners see no difference, but the payslip does.
Over a career, that lag means lower pay in the early years and a later start on every promotion that follows.
Defenders of the arrangement may argue that the UDPTE teacher entered the profession with a certificate and is being upgraded in place, while the DPTE graduate trained at diploma level from the start.
But that argument sits uneasily with the premise of the reform itself. If the diploma is the standard every CBC teacher must meet, and if the upgrade makes a teacher CBC-ready, it is difficult to explain why that teacher is not treated as such when it comes to grade.
The ceiling at C1
Even the DPTE graduate who starts at C1 faces limits on how far, and how quickly, they can progress. The disparity extends to the secondary school comparison.
In secondary schools, diploma teachers enter at C1 and are promoted automatically to C2 after three years.
Promotion beyond C2, to C3, is competitive. In primary schools, diploma teachers also enter at C1, but there is no automatic step.
Grade C2 is itself a competitive grade, and promotion to it depends on successful promotion interviews rather than time served. If no interview opportunity arises, or the teacher is unsuccessful, they remain at C1.
A primary school diploma teacher can therefore remain at the entry grade for years, while a secondary school colleague with the same qualification moves up without competing.
The UDPTE teacher is in a still more difficult position, having to wait out B5 before reaching that bottleneck.
The result is a layered disadvantage. The secondary teacher has a guaranteed step. The DPTE primary teacher has none. The UDPTE primary teacher faces a delayed entry on top of that. All three work within the same curriculum reform.
The new CPG
This is the situation the new CPG was expected to address, and there is now movement. Speaking on 12 November at the annual conference of the Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association (KECSHA), which brought together primary school headteachers, President William Ruto announced that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has approved TSC’s new CPG.
He said the new guidelines, which replace the 2018 career guidelines, are ready. The conference was held at the Sheikh Zayed Children Welfare Centre in Mombasa.
The announcement removes the biggest obstacle that had hung over the guidelines. TSC had said that job evaluation by the SRC was the final hurdle before the new structure could be attached to salary scales.
The new CPG will take effect in July 2027 and will be aligned with the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Ruto said Ksh 4 billion has been allocated for the purpose. The timing matters because July 2027 is when teachers are due to receive a salary increment under the CBA. Where each teacher is placed in the new structure will determine how that increment lands.
What the proposed structure suggests
The details of the final document will matter more than the headline. However, the version TSC presented to stakeholders on 9 June 2026 offers a guide to what may be coming.
Under that proposal, the number of levels across the service falls from 56 to 43, and in regular primary schools from eight to six.
Primary diploma holders, including those with the DPTE and the Diploma in Teacher Education, Pre-Primary and Primary (DTE PP&P), would enter at Teacher 8.
Today’s Primary Teacher 1 (C1) maps to Teacher 8. Teacher 7, designated Senior Teacher (Primary), would be a common cadre grade, merging today’s Senior Teacher 1 (C3) and Senior Teacher 2 (C2). Competition would begin from Teacher 6, the Deputy Principal (Primary) grade.
If adopted as proposed, this structure would remove the C2 bottleneck. Promotion through common cadre grades does not depend on competition, so a primary diploma holder would have a guaranteed step up from the entry grade, in line with what secondary school colleagues already enjoy.
Above that, “competitive” would mean promotion based on merit and demonstrated excellence, such as learner outcomes, recognition through the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) process, or achievements beyond the classroom.
The questions that remain for UDPTE teachers
For UDPTE teachers, the proposal raises as many questions as it answers. Under the proposed structure, the PTE certificate entry is Teacher 9, and Teacher 8 is the common cadre for PTE holders.
A certificate holder who moves up would therefore share a grade with a fresh diploma graduate.
Where does that leave the P1 teacher who spent up to Ksh 90,000 to obtain a UDPTE? Will TSC place such a teacher at Teacher 8 on hiring, in line with the diploma? Or will the UDPTE teacher still enter at the certificate-level grade and wait several years to move up, as under the current system? If the latter, the new CPG would carry the old disparity into the new structure under different names.
Teachers already serving at B5 who have upgraded will also want to know how their service and new qualification will be recognised when they are placed in the new structure.
These are not small details. They determine whether a costly upgrade is finally reflected in a teacher’s grade.
It is also important to be clear about what remains unknown. The announcement says the SRC has approved the guidelines, but the full document and the grade-by-grade placement rules are what teachers need to see. Grades are not pay, and the final salary scales will tell the fuller story.
What teachers should watch for
Teachers in each group should read the final CPG with specific questions in mind.
For UDPTE teachers, the key issue is the entry grade: does the new CPG treat a UDPTE as equivalent to a DPTE for placement, or does it keep a separate, lower entry point?
For DPTE graduates, the question is whether the common cadre route up to Teacher 7 is confirmed, and how long a teacher must serve before moving up it.
For all primary teachers, the question is how fairly the merit-based competitive grades will operate, particularly for teachers in under-resourced schools who may find it harder to produce the learner results and co-curricular achievements that count. Teachers’ unions are likely to press on this point.
In the meantime, the practical advice is to keep records in order, including TPAD documentation, evidence of learner outcomes and co-curricular achievements, to watch for TSC advertisements, and to read the final CPG closely when it is published.
A matter of fairness
The government set out in 2020 to raise the standard of the primary school teacher, and the DPTE and the DTE PP&P are real steps in that direction.
But a reform is judged by how it treats the people it asks to change. Teachers were told to upgrade, and they paid for it.
They were then offered, at best, a few marks in recruitment and an entry grade that lags behind that of their newly trained colleagues, even though their qualification rests on the same competencies.
The new CPG, with Ksh 4 billion behind it and July 2027 as its start date, is the best opportunity yet to put this right.
If it treats the DPTE and UDPTE as the equivalent qualifications they are, and gives primary diploma teachers the same guaranteed first step that secondary school teachers have long enjoyed, it will go some way towards restoring faith among teachers who feel they have been asked to give more than they have received.
If not, the diploma risks remaining a qualification that raised the standard of the teacher without raising the standing of the profession.
